On fizz and fog.

Oslo, Mies, and me. Seattle’s Discovery Park, December 2012.

Only the head of a Dublin pint froths like that. Milky white density; super foam. Unless you count the merinque of that baked Alaska I made one time. One time when I was young and married and living in a trailer when my first husband threw it across the room and it hit the cheap wood paneled wall and slid down down down. That viscous, sliding foam, like my heart every time his face twisted in anger and I wondered how my life came to that.

But I’m not married to him anymore and it wasn’t then this is now. Laura came over that night. That last night of 2012, to say goodbye to that one and hello to this one. She looked pretty like she always does and texted me to tell me she was on her way, Dropping Ash off at Paul’s!

Could you please pick up some ice? my fingers flew. Let’s make a Gin Fizz for New Year’s!

No, wait. A Diamond Fizz. Because you have to have champagne for New Year’s. Even before I started watching Mad Men, I had an interest in classic cocktails. It all started in New Orleans, I think. That balmy night on the mansion’s porch just off of Charles Avenue with Sweet William and my friend Tom. That balmy night on the mansion’s porch just off of Charles Avenue when I had a Sazerac or two.

So I went down to the U-District for Hendrick’s and Met Market for bitters. Down to the fog for some eau de vie. The milky opaque frothy fog. The condensed thick salty fog. Like the head of a Diamond Fizz, veiling the Emerald City in winter.

Ramos Gin Fizz
1/4 cup (2 ounces) gin
1 dash (3 to 4 drops) orange blossom water
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) half-and-half
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) simple syrup
1 cup ice cubes
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) seltzer or Champagne

In large cocktail shaker, combine gin, orange blossom water, egg white, half-and-half, lemon juice, lime juice, and simple syrup. Shake vigorously for 25 seconds. Add ice and shake for 30 seconds more.
Strain mixture into 8-ounce glass. Slowly pour soda water down inside edge of shaker to loosen remaining froth. Gently ease soda water/froth mix onto drink and serve.